Friday, January 05, 2007

Random Links: Lack of Content Edition

Hmmm....things are quiet around here and I don't have anything to post about. I guess I'll have to break out another can of random links to keep this blog updated. Let's get started...

I meant to track down a few bottles of "champagne beer" (no, not Miller Hi-Life) for New Years Eve. I guess there's always next year.

Last week, a video of the OHSU tram in action popped up on Portland's Future Awesome. The gondolas' huge windows offer a large panorama of downtown, the West Hills and the river but will patients and riders with vertigo be able to deal with it? Maybe the hospital should keep a box of blindfolds on hand.

Portland probably has several Cold War-era bunkers still lying around but this one has to be the most fascinating. Nowadays, the mostly forgotten Kelly Butte Civil Defense Center is a junk-filled hole in the ground underneath a little-used park. After nuclear fears subsided, the city turned it into a 911 call center. In the '90s, that was moved elsewhere and it was abandoned entirely. Just like the Mercurykids, I look forward to making a trip up to the park sometime. Also: as someone over there pointed out, the bunker might make a great McMenamins.

If you've ever traveled to Cannon Beach from Portland via US 26, you've no doubt passed a sign pointing towards the country's largest Sitka spruce tree. During last month's wind storm, it took heavy damage and the locals are talking about chopping it down. They're also mulling over ways to save the tree. Among the ideas: cement. Read more here.

Despite the air traffic, a trip to this beach in St. Maarten is probably more fun than an average day spent on the Oregon coast. What's a little jet fuel in your Mai Tai? At least the weather's warm.

This collection of high-class insults is sure to come in handy some day. Or, why not break them out right now? *Ahem* You've got the attention span of a lightning bolt and you have delusions of adequacy.

Finally, what happens when you toss an iPod into a blender? Or a golf club? Or a crow bar? Will they blend? Find out here.